We performed a comparison between Fortinet FortiGate-VM and SonicWall NSa based on real PeerSpot user reviews.
Find out in this report how the two Firewalls solutions compare in terms of features, pricing, service and support, easy of deployment, and ROI."I like how we can achieve total integration."
"Fortinet FortiGate is a stable solution."
"Their reliability and their policy of pre-shipping replacements when a unit has failed."
"I like several features that this product has, such as antivirus and internet navigation inspection. It is also simple to use."
"Their proxy-based inspection is responsive and secure."
"It can expand easily."
"The most important features with FortiGate are the web filter and application controls. We can control our internet usage and use the web filter for application purposes."
"All of the features of Fortinet FortiGate are useful and the security protection is good."
"The most valuable feature is the UTM, which gives them an advantage over other firewalls."
"The thing that I like the most is that they're very willing to work with us to resolve issues that they haven't taken care of before in their product."
"The dashboards are a good feature."
"It offers the same robust features and functionality in virtual, on-premise, and traditional data center environments."
"Initial setup was quite straightforward, as we can simply head to the required sections to apply the planned network."
"It is very useful to make lists for rules and prepare firewall rules."
"Its performance is adequate. We are quite satisfied with its performance. The fact that it is a complete ecosystem with all kinds of integrations is valuable. It did take us a couple of months to get a grip on the new software, but all in all, it replaced our on-premise and single-point solution environment."
"The solution integrates well with other Fortinet products."
"The solution can scale."
"SonicWall NSa has a user-friendly firmware"
"The most valuable features of this solution are the GUI pre-filtering and the ATP (advanced threat protection)."
"It allows us to block applications, i.e., websites by application type category. It is far more capable than content filtering alone."
"We can do the hosting and security all under one box. The UTM is a good feature."
"The product is simple to manage."
"SonicWall's sales support is much better than other vendors'."
"Sometimes I have some queries, and the SonicWall support team resolves my queries."
"Lacks sufficient security options."
"Sometimes you do need to know some CLI commands, so it's a bit harder for technicians or new people that don't know it."
"The firmware needs improvement because there are bugs when a new release comes through. Sometimes, the configuration changes, and it's a bit harder to see where the fail is. The first time that you have the firmware, it tends to have some issues, and it's better to wait a bit to update the equipment."
"I would like to see a more intuitive dashboard."
"The web-cache feature which was previously on the FortiGate device, but was deleted with the recent upgrade should be returned. It was a very valuable feature for us."
"They can do more tests before they release new versions because I would like to be more assured. We had some experiences where they release something new and great, but some of the old features are disabled or they don't work well, which impacts the product satisfaction. The manufacturer should be able to prove that everything works or not only that it might work. This is applicable to most of the other services, software, and hardware companies. They all should work on this. We cannot trust every new release, such as a beta release, on the first day. We wait for some comments on the forums and from other companies that we know. We always wait a few weeks before we use the updated version. They should also extend the VPN client application, especially for Linux versions. Currently, it has an application for Linux devices, but it doesn't work the way we want to connect to the VPN. They use only the old connection, not the new one. They have VPN client applications for Windows and Mac, but they can add more useful features to better manage the devices and monitor the current health of each device. Such features would be helpful for our company."
"The way everything is set up could be easier. Currently, people need a lot of experience and knowledge to administer it and to link it to devices."
"The reports are very basic."
"To improve FortiGate-VM, Fortinet needs to harden it more. For example, if you are using Hyper-V, then you need guidelines for hardening FortiGate-VM that are specific to the Hyper-V environment. If it's VMware, there should be at least a guideline on how to harden the firewall."
"The price model is not transparent by any means and should be made more clear. What's included in the packages is often not very obvious."
"I have worked on some of the largest and smallest solutions that Fortinet sells and they all scale really well."
"The operating system isn't stable, so it goes to memory counters every night."
"FortiGate-VM could be improved by making it cloud-based. I'd like it to be a cloud-based management solution instead of just a dedicated management orchestration tool."
"The log settings and filters could use some improvement."
"The user interface needs to be improved."
"The solution should provide more useful GUI features."
"When it comes to security I think all of the features are currently open to improvement."
"The logging, reporting, and storage capacity size could improve in a future release."
"We still get phishing emails that manage to come through from time to time."
"In terms of improvement, features like App Control do not work properly"
"The detection of malware can improve in SonicWall NSa."
"The cost could be lower. There could also be more flexibility for smaller companies."
"Overall, Im satisfied with SonicWall NSa, but it would be better if they could add a small terminal to each device. This would help me deal with certain issues by running a small bot onto any PC."
"Do not even consider NetExtender - probably one of the most horrific, nightmare grade Java-based VPN clients. We have but all given up trying to make it work reliably."
Fortinet FortiGate-VM is ranked 9th in Firewalls with 113 reviews while SonicWall NSa is ranked 20th in Firewalls with 77 reviews. Fortinet FortiGate-VM is rated 8.4, while SonicWall NSa is rated 7.8. The top reviewer of Fortinet FortiGate-VM writes "An easy-to-manage and configure tool that provides ample documentation to help with the setup phase". On the other hand, the top reviewer of SonicWall NSa writes "Great performance and security with reasonable pricing". Fortinet FortiGate-VM is most compared with Azure Firewall, Palo Alto Networks VM-Series, Fortinet FortiOS, OPNsense and Netgate pfSense, whereas SonicWall NSa is most compared with SonicWall TZ, Meraki MX, Sophos XG, Cisco Secure Firewall and Netgate pfSense. See our Fortinet FortiGate-VM vs. SonicWall NSa report.
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